Buckeyes selected for Orange Bowl vs. Clemson

Ohio State tumbled from No. 2 in the BCS rankings to No. 7. They slipped to No. 6 in the coaches' poll and seventh by writers. Sunday night, instead of taking an invitation to Pasadena for the national title games, Ohio State was selected to play in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3 in Miami against No. 11 Clemson.

COLUMBUS In a golf cart parked just outside his team's locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium, Urban Meyer sat with his young son, Nate, eating a personal pizza from a chain joint. It was hard to see what the toppings were.

The pie?

It was humble.

Meyer stoically ate his postgame meal. His wife, Shelley, stood near the cart. No one really talked.

The Buckeyes, for the first time since Meyer became their coach 25 games ago, lost. They will not have the finest of foods at "victory meal." Instead, they pick up the pieces in the wake of Saturday night's 34-24 loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game.

"It's going to haunt all of us, I imagine, for a little while, but that's part of the game," Meyer said.

Without hesitation, players and coaches said it hurt to lose a game after being so close to their goals and dreams this season. One win away from the BCS National Championship Game.

"Does it make the loss harder? No. What makes the loss harder is I really wanted these guys to experience something special," Meyer said. "And we are."

Ohio State tumbled from No. 2 in the BCS rankings to No. 7. They slipped to No. 6 in the coaches' poll and seventh by writers. Sunday night, instead of taking an invitation to Pasadena for the national title games, Ohio State was selected to play in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3 in Miami against No. 11 Clemson.

This will officially be Ohio State ninth BCS bowl game, the most in the BCS era that now ends. The Buckeyes vacated their 10th BCS bowl win, the 2011 Sugar Bowl, because of NCAA penalties.

Those same penalties kept Ohio State out of a bowl game last season. That was a point Meyer reminded his players about after the conference title game loss.

"It's about finishing things the right way," Meyer said. "We have a chance to win 13 games and finish ranked very highly. That's important, especially with what these players have gone through the last two years. They understand there's a great opportunity, and with great opportunity, comes great responsibility."

It is still an interesting game with mobile quarterbacks Braxton Miller and Tahj Boyd. The last time the two teams played was in the Gator Bowl in 1978 when Woody Hayes hit a Clemson defender. The legendary Ohio State coach was fired the next morning.

It is an intriguing matchup, one that could light up the scoreboard.

The Buckeyes defense has given up its share of points and plays, but there's something that may bother Meyer for a bit on the other side of the ball.

The one offensive call that will be debated for a while was Ohio State's fourth-and-2 from the Michigan State 39. Instead of trying to run Carlos Hyde on third-and-3, and fourth-and-2, Meyer put the ball in quarterback Braxton Miller's hands.

Page 2 of 2 - On the fourth-down run, Hyde and tight end Jeff Heuerman were the lead blockers. Miller was tackled for no gain.

"It was my call. I wanted to put the ball in the hands of our best player, Braxton," Meyer said. "We usually run that play a lot. We ran it to the boundary. I knew they'd pressure us, and I thought he might be able to come out on the other end of it. It was a chance to go try to win the game."

All-American cornerback Bradley Roby missed two series in the third quarter with an injury and Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook carved up the Buckeyes' problematic pass defense. Armani Reeves replaced Roby during the Spartans' game-tying drive.

"Obviously, take a great player off the field, that's an issue," Meyer said.

Co-defensive coordinators Luke Fickell and Everett Withers, who coaches the defensive backs, are under fire. They never fixed the pass coverage. Several opposing QBs had career days against this defense.

"We have to get it fixed," Meyer said.

"There's a lot to fix. ... Guys have to make plays," Fickell said. "We have to put them in situations where they can make plays. There's no finger pointing."

Offensively, the Buckeyes moved the ball in the second and third quarters. It took some time.

"We hyped them up a little too much," center Corey Linsley said. "They're obviously a good team, but it was like we were playing the Bears or something."

Now Ohio State will prepare to play in a major bowl — a BCS bowl berth in the Orange is nothing to toss aside — against a two-loss Clemson team. Many expect Ohio State to start another streak, a losing streak.

"It'll show our true character," Linsley said. "We could sit there and blame this and blame that, but the only way you're going to get any production out of yourself is if you look at what you did wrong, and correct it."